Waitrose, Morrisons and John Lewis have all pledged to be glitter-free by Christmas 2020.
This comes in a move to make Christmas more sustainable, with all own-brand cards, gift wraps, crackers and tags along with half of the flowers and plants set to be glitter-free.
Glitter is made up of tiny pieces of plastic and take hundreds of years to biodegrade, or may never break down at all.
Waitrose, if possible, will be offering an environmentally friendly alternative to glitter in their products.
Tor Harris, Head of CSR, Health & Agriculture for Waitrose & Partners, said:
“Reducing the impact of plastics on the environment is something our customers care passionately about. While it’s important to eliminate the use of glitter, we’ll find other ways to make sure our products sparkle at Christmas and throughout the year.”
The supermarket was the first in 2016 to cut plastics out of its beauty products switching to biodegradable paper from plastic cotton buds.
Waitrose has also introduced its target to make all its own brand packaging widely recycled, reusable or home compostable from 2025 to 2033.
Alongside its ban of glitter, Morrisons has removed all plastic toys from its Christmas crackers. The move extends to non-seasonal as well as seasonal lines meaning Morrisons shoppers can shop more sustainably all year round.
Christine Bryce, Morrisons Home Director. said: “We’ve taken glitter and plastic out of our festive range this year – so that our customers can enjoy their festivities without worrying about the environmental impact. This means that we’re now 100 per cent glitter-free across all our own brand ranges which is an important step in the fight against plastic pollution.”
John Lewis has estimated that after also removing the plastic wrapping from the majority of the individual cards it sells, this alone will save eight tonnes of plastic each year.
Dan Cooper, Partner and Head Christmas Buyer at John Lewis said; “Reducing the amount of single-use plastic in products and packaging is really important to us and our customers.”
All of the real Christmas trees sold in John Lewis are grown in the UK and all of its tinsel is made in Wales.